Ripley’s biggest
Ripley Green
Park or garden
26 ha (65 acres)5.7 km of path
1 h 15 minto walk all 5.7 km of path
37 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Ripley
1 listedFP 531
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0A−Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Ripley · parks, paths & countryside
Ripley has more park space per resident than 9 in 10 UK towns
Parks and playing fields in Ripley add up to 15.0 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. The Surrey Hills National Landscape begins 2.7 mi from the village’s edge. Footpaths add up to 44 km in the village and the kilometre around it, 3.6 for every square kilometre. Ripley grades A− for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
15.0 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
64%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
44 km
3.6 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
2%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Surrey Hills National Landscape
Character
What kind of outdoors village is Ripley?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Room to roam15.0 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 98% of UK towns.Countryside close byThe Surrey Hills National Landscape starts 2.7 mi south-east.On a National TrailThe European walking route E2 west, UK, South East England passes through.Parks can be a walk away36% of residents live more than 400 m from a park or playing field.
Ripley’s strongest suit is plenty of park space, followed by the Surrey Hills National Landscape close by. Where it falls short is how far some homes are from a park.
Outdoors grade
Ripley grades A− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Ripley, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
A−
Better than 77% of UK towns17th of 60 UK villages its size
Public green space15.0 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
98out of
100
100
A park within a walk64%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
24out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape2%of the land within 5 km
65out of
100
100
Footpaths3.6 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
74out of
100
100
The sea0%of the area within 5 km · Inland
42out of
100
100
Graded, never part of the overall grade (like History and Civic life). It measures what is mapped: OS Open Greenspace leaves out woodland and open-access land that isn’t a park, and OpenStreetMap’s rural paths are more complete in some places than others.
Villages its size
Ripley is 17th of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,600 to 1,800 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Outdoors score: the share of UK towns each one beats
Footpath, km per km²
Ripley3.6
Villages its size2.2
Surrey towns4.3
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Ripley15.0
Villages its size1.9
Surrey towns3.1
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Ripley64%
Villages its size78%
Surrey towns75%
All UK towns83%
Against villages its size, Ripley stands out most for park space per resident: only 3 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on homes near a park, where 38 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pease Pottage West Sussex | A+ | 4.1 | 100% | 7.4 | 65% |
| 2 | Wanborough Wiltshire | A+ | 6 | 100% | 2.7 | 45% |
| 3 | Trimley St Martin Suffolk | A+ | 1.7 | 100% | 2.9 | 43% |
| 4 | Penwithick Cornwall | A | 15 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 5 | Wroxall Isle of Wight | A | 1.2 | 84% | 4.6 | 33% |
| 6 | Eccles Kent | A | 3.7 | 100% | 2.4 | 30% |
| 7 | Elstree Hertfordshire | A | 22 | 100% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 8 | Flimby Cumbria | A | 1.7 | 100% | 2.3 | 2% |
| 9 | Grain Kent | A | 13 | 100% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 10 | Southwell Dorset | A | 0.7 | 100% | 5.4 | 0% |
| 11 | Upchurch Kent | A | 4 | 76% | 2.3 | 7% |
| 12 | Wickwar Gloucestershire | A− | 2 | 100% | 3.5 | 15% |
| 13 | Hamstreet Kent | A− | 2.3 | 100% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 14 | Seascale Cumbria | A− | 2.1 | 81% | 2.2 | 27% |
| 15 | Clayhanger West Midlands | A− | 17.4 | 100% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 16 | Bathampton Somerset | A− | 1 | 85% | 5.5 | 62% |
| 17 | Ripley Surrey | A− | 15 | 64% | 3.6 | 2% |
| 18 | Harthill South Yorkshire | B+ | 3.6 | 100% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 19 | Appledore Devon | B+ | 1.2 | 100% | 1.6 | 16% |
| 20 | Starcross Devon | B+ | 1.9 | 100% | 0.9 | 1% |
| 21 | Aldbourne Wiltshire | B+ | 3.2 | 84% | 1.8 | 100% |
| 22 | Kingsdown Kent | B+ | 1.1 | 67% | 3.4 | 12% |
| 23 | Criccieth Gwynedd | B | 2.9 | 75% | 1.3 | 4% |
| 24 | Blewbury Oxfordshire | B | 3.1 | 54% | 2.7 | 79% |
| 25 | Bryn Dyfed | B− | 2.9 | 67% | 1.4 | 1% |
| 26 | Streethouse West Yorkshire | B− | 2.2 | 100% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 27 | Flockton West Yorkshire | B− | 2.4 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 28 | Shaldon Devon | B− | 1.7 | 85% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 29 | Woodsetts South Yorkshire | B− | 2 | 100% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 30 | Summit Greater Manchester | B− | 1.9 | 100% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 31 | Trethomas Gwent | B− | 6.9 | 48% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 32 | Feniton Devon | C+ | 1.3 | 100% | 1.4 | 17% |
| 33 | Dunvant West Glamorgan | C+ | 4.3 | 36% | 1.8 | 30% |
| 34 | Langho Lancashire | C+ | 1.6 | 74% | 3 | 7% |
| 35 | Pilling Lancashire | C+ | 4.2 | 46% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 36 | North Leigh Oxfordshire | C+ | 2.3 | 56% | 2.4 | 26% |
| 37 | Harvington Worcestershire | C+ | 2.6 | 100% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 38 | Minsterley Shropshire | C+ | 1.1 | 77% | 2.4 | 38% |
| 39 | Poyle Berkshire | C− | 0.7 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 40 | Leeming North Yorkshire | C− | 5 | 76% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 41 | West Thorney West Sussex | C− | 0.4 | 0% | 0.9 | 55% |
| 42 | Embsay North Yorkshire | C− | 0.9 | 38% | 2.5 | 47% |
| 43 | High Bentham North Yorkshire | C− | 0.1 | 0% | 2.9 | 45% |
| 44 | Lower Quinton Warwickshire | C− | 2 | 49% | 1.3 | 18% |
| 45 | Modbury Devon | C− | 1.7 | 39% | 1.2 | 41% |
| 46 | Higher Kinnerton Clwyd | C− | 0.7 | 100% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 47 | Sudbrooke Lincolnshire | C− | 1.5 | 82% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 48 | Charminster Dorset | D | 0.3 | 0% | 2 | 56% |
| 49 | Holt Wiltshire | D | 1.1 | 45% | 2.1 | 2% |
| 50 | Shrewton Wiltshire | D | 1.4 | 42% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 51 | Leverington Cambridgeshire | D | 2.8 | 59% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 52 | Houghton on the Hill Leicestershire | D | 1.8 | 60% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 53 | Tiddington Warwickshire | D | 0.2 | 79% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 54 | Point Clear Essex | D | 0.1 | 0% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 55 | Soughton Clwyd | D | 0.4 | 67% | 1.3 | 3% |
| 56 | Monk Fryston and Hillam North Yorkshire | D | 2.7 | 40% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 57 | Welford-on-Avon Warwickshire | D− | 0.4 | 48% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 58 | Necton Norfolk | D− | 1.5 | 17% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 59 | Swffryd Gwent | D− | 1.4 | 17% | 0.4 | 0% |
| 60 | Hambleton North Yorkshire | D− | 0.1 | 52% | 1.1 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Ripley’s built-up area.
Green space: parks, gardens, playing fields and play spaces, named or not.© OpenStreetMap contributors · Contains OS data © Crown copyright · Natural England / NRW
Places to walk
Parks to walk in, in and around Ripley
The biggest is Ripley Green, 26 ha (65 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Oldlands Copse
Park or garden · 270 m outside town
18 ha (43 acres)3.0 km of path
40 minto walk all 3 km of path
25 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
1.3 mi southfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
6 in 10 Ripley residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Each square is 1 in 100 residents: green lives within 400 m of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace).
Within 400 m (64%)Further (36%)
Ripley64%
Villages its size78%
Surrey towns75%
All UK towns83%
About 600 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 6 playgrounds are mapped in and around the village, about one for every 286 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Surrey Hills National Landscape is 2.7 mi away
Protected landscapes within 30 km, by direction and distance from the edge of the built-up area; circle size shows each one’s area. National Landscapes were called Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty until 2023.
National ParkNational LandscapeThe 5 km the grade counts
National Landscape
Surrey Hills
2.7 mi south-east422 km²since 19582% of the land within 5 km
Official site2% of the land within 5 km of Ripley is National Park or National Landscape, more than 64% of UK towns. South Downs National Park covers 1,653 km² and has been a National Park since 2010.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Ripley is on the European walking route E2 west, UK, South East England
44 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Ripley and the kilometre around it, 3.6 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the village.
NationalLocalOther waymarked
The Fox Way11.3 km
Canons and Cornmills8.0 km
European walking route E2 west, UK, South East England5.7 km
Papercourt Lock to Triggs Lock Walk, River Wey Navigations4.0 km
Oldlands Copse Circular Walk2.2 km
The European walking route E2 west, UK, South East England, a national route, passes Ripley. Close to home, the The Fox Way has 11 km of local walk within 2 km of the village.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
When to get out
The best walking months in Ripley: May to September
The village’s 1991–2020 averages (Met Office HadUK-Grid) and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have 12½+ hours of daylight, highs of 15 °C or more and little rain for the town.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 8.3 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.6 | 16.6 | 16.1 | 14.6 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.8 | 7.9 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 20 | 23 | 22 | 19 | 15 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 69 | 53 | 43 | 51 | 51 | 50 | 53 | 58 | 59 | 75 | 81 | 73 |
March is the driest month (43 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 23 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 81 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 46 nights a year. The climate in Ripley →
Things to do
4 viewpoints, 6 playgrounds and the nearest beaches
Mapped within 2 km of the village in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK village its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
4Viewpoints2Hills and peaks4Nature reserves1Picnic sites6Playgroundsabout the same as villages its size
The nearest beaches
Ripley is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the village.
Amity Beach6.8 mi from Ripley’s edge
DirectionsHog Hole15 mi from Ripley’s edge
DirectionsThe Hollows15 mi from Ripley’s edge
DirectionsPenguin Beach16 mi from Ripley’s edge
DirectionsKelson Beach25 mi from Ripley’s edge
DirectionsGood to know
Check the water before you swim. The Environment Agency tests designated bathing waters from May to September and publishes a rating for each beach.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 4
Fruit Hill0.7 mi from town
DirectionsBattleston Hill0.8 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 2 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 2
Hungry Hill0.5 mi from town
DirectionsFox Hill1.0 mi from town
DirectionsNature reserves 4
Plus 4 nature reserves without a name on the map.
Picnic sites 1
Plus 1 picnic site without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 6
Send Rec. Playground1.0 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 5 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Next door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
SendWest ClandonEast HorsleyWest HorsleyNew Haw, West Byfleet and SheerwaterWokingRipley
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ripley | A− | 15.0 | 64% | 2% |
| Send 1.4 mi | C+ | 2.6 | 28% | 5% |
| West Clandon 2.5 mi | C | 1.9 | 49% | 28% |
| East Horsley 3.0 mi | A− | 3.5 | 55% | 33% |
| West Horsley 3.1 mi | A | 3.0 | 74% | 40% |
| New Haw, West Byfleet and Sheerwater 3.3 mi | C+ | 2.2 | 69% | 0% |
| Woking 3.5 mi | C+ | 1.7 | 67% | 0% |
West Horsley, 3.1 miles away, grades A, the best next door: 74% of its residents live within 400 m of a park.
Questions about the outdoors in Ripley
What is the biggest park in Ripley?
Ripley Green, 26 ha (65 acres), with 5.7 km of path. Oldlands Copse (18 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the village or within 400 m of it.
Is Ripley near a National Park?
Yes. South Downs National Park begins 15 mi south of the village’s edge. It covers 1,653 km² and has been a National Park since 2010. The nearest protected landscape of any kind is the Surrey Hills National Landscape, 2.7 mi away.
What are the best walks near Ripley?
5 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the village, including the The Fox Way, Canons and Cornmills and European walking route E2 west, UK, South East England. Ripley Green alone has 5.7 km of path.
What is the nearest beach to Ripley?
Amity Beach, 6.8 mi from the edge of the village, then Hog Hole (15 mi). Ripley itself is inland.
How many people in Ripley live near a park?
64% of residents live within 400 m, about a 5-minute walk, of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace). The typical UK town is 83%.
When is the best time of year for walking in Ripley?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Ripley good for walking?
For paths, yes: 3.6 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 74% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 98% (15.0 ha per 1,000 residents).
How is the Outdoors Grade worked out?
From five measures, each placed among UK towns of 1,000 or more: public green space per resident, the share living near a park, National Park or National Landscape within 5 km, footpaths per square kilometre, and the sea within 5 km. It is a character grade and isn’t part of Ripley’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Ripley’s outdoors figures come from
- Parks and green space: Ordnance Survey OS Open Greenspace (parks and gardens, playing fields, play spaces, and their access points). Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- National Parks and National Landscapes: Natural England and Natural Resources Wales boundaries, areas and designation dates, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Footpaths, walking routes, beaches and things to do: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License (ODbL), via Geofabrik, 16 October 2026.
- Historic parks, listed buildings and monuments: Historic England, National Heritage List for England, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Rain and temperature: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for the town; daylight calculated from its latitude.
- The sea: ONS Countries (December 2024) boundaries clipped to mean high water. Residents near a park: ONS Census 2021 output areas.
- Grade: TownRatings’ Outdoors Grade, ranked against UK towns only.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.